Seam opening and wind-up device



Jan. 1511935.

P. GARDNER ET AL.

SEAM OPENING AND WIND-UP DEVICE Filed Feb. 26, 1932 2 sheetsshet l INVENTOR 1935- P. GARDNER ET AL SEAN OPENING AND WIND-UP DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sfieet 2 Filed Feb. 26, 1932 INVENTOR *Fm, I W" 5 .4 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES SEAM OPENING AND WIND-UP DEVICE Percy Gardner, New York, and Harry Gerstein,

Arverne, N. Y., assignors to Lever Bias Machine.

Corporation, Brooklyn, New York Application February 26,

8 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in seam opening devices and has an especial object to provide a combination of a mechanism for separating the margins of fabrics along the stitched seam, to fold such margins back onto the fabric, to press out said margins smoothly, and to provide a simple and efllcient device for pulling the fabric across the machine and onto a wind-up roll at a speed simultaneous with the speed with which it is fed past the needle all the while maintaining the tubular fabric in a smooth and even condition, .so that the seams will be true and the tubular material will be rolled up in a smooth even manner and at a rapid rate. Q

A further object is to provide simple and emcient cooperating units whereby a single operator may feed the material to the sewing ,machine needle with the free edges adjacent so as to form a seam along said free edges, the apparatus being provided with elements to maintain the material in a smooth, even condition in the form of a substantially flat, smooth tube as it is fed across the sewing machine.

A further object is to provide a simple and eillcient device which will open the margins of the seam after the seam is formed, turn over the margins and then press them back onto the body of the material.

A stillfurther object is to provide a simple and efiicient wind-up device wherein the weight of the wound up materialis essential to produce the necessary friction to wind up the material and whereby the material prior to being wound up is maintained at all points in its travel in a'substantially flat smooth condition so that it can be wound up without wrinkling and in the form of a roll which has substantially even smooth end faces.

A still further and important object is to so synchronize the operation and cooperation of these various units that all the operator has to do is to feed the free edges of the material to the needle --after which the tubular material is fed forward smoothly and evenly at a rapid rate of speed as the seam is turned and pressed and the material wound up in a simple, smooth, compact roll, all automatically, until the entire fabric is wound up after which the roll can be readily removed and stored away for future use.

A still further object is to provide a simple and efficient means whereby the outer edges of the seamed margins are cut oii to make these margins regular and the cut-off portions are simply and efficiently carried away from the in the drawings of which:

N. Y., a corporation of 1932, Serial No. 595,283

rest of the material so as not to beallowed to interfere with the operation of the mechanism or the material.

Further and more specific objects, features I and advantages will more clearly appear from 5 a consideration of the specification hereinafter taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form part of the specification and which illustrate a present preferred form of the invention.

Briefly and generally consideredthe invention includes a sewing machine provided with any suitable needle operating'mechanism and material feeding mechanism together with a opener of the general character shown and described in co-pending application Ser. No. 538,659 filed May 20, 1931, in the name of Percy Gardner and entitled "Attachment for sewing machines". Combined with this seam opening attachment is an automatic wind up device which pulls the fabric acros's the machine from the needle and winds it up smoothly and at the same rate of speed at which the material is fed past the needle. This wind-up device is so constructed that the weight of the wound-up material on the'roll is the only means providing the necessary tension up the material. Disposed betweenthe, wind-up device and the seam opening device are heated pressing rollers for flattening out the formed seam and smoothing and tensioning bars to maintain the tube flat and smooth. 7 Prior to the introduction of the material to the needle or substantially previously therewith means are provided for keeping the tube substantially flat and even so that crinkling of the tube and any irregularity in its forward feed is avoided.

A preferred form of thevinvention is shown Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of the sewing machine embodying the seam opening device together with the take-up mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section through the device on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig.5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. l; and l Fig. 10 is a partial perspective view of the opened and flattened out seam.

In the manufacture of materials cut on the bias for making bias bindings and similar goods it is generally customary to take flat material and fold it over and stitchthe free edges 20'.- gether to form a tube which can then be adapted for use in tubular spiral cutting machines to cut the material on the bias. In developing this tubular material into bias cut material it is essential that the seam of the tube thus formed be opened up and flattened out as much as pos sible so as not to disturb the appearance and uniform thickness of the material any more than necessary.

It is also desirableto have the material move across the bed-plate of the machine in a smooth, uniform manner and at as high a rate of speed as possible. Another important feature is to take the tubular material after the seam has been formed and press and roll it up automati- .callyatthesamerateofspeedonarollso 'that when the material in any given length has been seamed and rolled up, the roll. thus formed can be stored away ready for use on a bias cutting machine. In this respect the entire operation of folding the material, forming the tube by making a seam along its edges, pressing the seam and rolling up the tubular material takes place at a high rate of speed and with a minimumofhandling of the materialon the part of the operator.

Asshown in the drawings the invention is applied to a sewing machine having a base plate 10,apresserfootarmll,aneedlearml2 supporting a needle 13 and an elongated presser foot 14 ctmnected on the lower end of arm 11. The presser foot 14 at its rear end is cut-away to form's notch 15 for a purpose hereinafter described. The forward-end 18 of the presser foot is turned up to permit of the ready passage of the m 0! fabric therebeneath. As is customary the presser foot, 14 is also cut-away in 'thelline'of the needle 13 to permit of the free operationthereof. Th'emachineisalsoprovidedwith a vertical oscillatory guillotine cutter bar'lta'which operates closely adjacent the needle but on the opposite side of the line of fr m the Dresser foot. Closely adja- "oentone edge of. m: foot and on the side of "the needle thereis disposed a spacing-element 17,3 ferably' in the form of a jvirespaced subs tially parallel to the 'adj ac'ent edge of the foot and slightly above the base plate of the machine. 7 The rear -end of clamped to a bracket plate 1 '13 adjustably fastened to the bed-plate 10. The forward end-of the wire 17 is fastened in any suitable manner as bya set screw to a plate 19 fastened to the adjacent end of the bracket plate 18 and embodying a pair of seam opening cams 20 of any suitable type having curved body portions such as 27 shown in Fig. 6 to open the fabric margins. Along another section showninl'lg'lisamarginturningcamsurface 23. These opening and turning cam surfaces are formed in one unit and are of the general character shown and described in the above mentioned co-pending application. The wire 1'! isdisposedaiongtheedgeoftheturningcam attbeverybesinningmereora sliowninl 'is.

pressure between the roll of 6 and then buried in the body thereof since the function of handling the margins is thereafter taken over by this cam as the fabric progresses through the machine. It will be noted that the cutaway portion 15 of the presser foot 14 permits of the disposition in this opening of the turning cams 20, the turned margins of the seam are then passed between spaced adjustable superposed plates and 26 in order to give the turned margins an initial pressing, the seamed edge of the goods then passes between the superposed idler pressure rollers 23 and 24 mounted in a bracket 22 in any suitable manner. If desired, suitable resilient or spring supports (not shown) can be provided to give the required pressure between these two idler rollers. Preferably mounted on the rear of each of the -idler rollers 23 and 24 are additional idler rollers 29 extending from the opposite face of the bracket and adapted to receive the cut portions of the goods and conduct them away and avoid this cut material from getting snarled up on top of the bed-plate and mixed up with the goods being entered. Preferably the rollers 23 and 24 are in anysuitable manner connected by wires 31 to the electric circuit'for'the purpose of heating the rollers. The goods passing between these rollers give the seam a final pressing and the heat in the rollers facilitates this action. To the front of the bed-plate l0 and substantially in line with the stitching there is disposed a guide plate 310 to enable the operator to guide the free edges of the material to the needle. 4

After leaving the idler pressure rollers 23 and 24 the material A passes substantially under and v over a series of spaced bars 32 fastened at their ends in a suitable frame .33 attached to the base plate 10. These bars cause the goods to be flattened out and smooth, the goods then passes under a small guide bar 34 and thence up and partially around a power driven roller 35 mounted on shaft 36 and provided with a rubber or resilient cover 3'1. The material is received and wound upon a core 33. This core with the material thereon rests on the driven roller 35 and adjacent driven roller 39 also covered as at 40 with resilient material and mounted on a shaft 41. The core 38 has its ends disposed in slots 42 formed in up-right bars 43 fastened to end brackets 44also forming the journals for the rollers 35 and 39. Thereis a weighted bar 45 also sliding in the slots 42 and resting on the wound-up material to increase the frictional material and the driving rollers. I

The ends of the rollers35 and 39 have gears 48 and47 thereon connected by an idler gear 43. The shaft 33 is provided with a pulley 49 operated by a belt 50 from the ordinary drive mechanism of the sewing machine. It will be observed that the rollers 35 and 39 are driven in the same angular direction and it is intended that they be driven at the same speed. 1 It is also intended that the linear speed of these two driven rollers be substantially identical with the linear speed at which the'feed mechanism on the sewing machine (not shown) tends to feed the material therethroush. I

The weight .;of the wind-up roller, plus the weight on the material of the bar 45 creates sufllcient friction between the material andthei driven rollers not only to wind up the material but tends to pull it across the bed-plateat the same speed at which it is fed past theneedle.

' mentof; the, "material a it will be The linear speed of the wound up material remains the same regardless of theincreased size of the roll of material since the core 38 naturally rises in the slots-421s theroll'increas'es in di ameter, I Turning tothat part'ofthe' machine which has to 'dowithithe' beginningipf the treat- "noted: in the rizntqhmidn r n a bar 51 a the base of thekap I j screw 53; 'is pre erably dispos'ed at right angles"to--',the movement-of "the material and has an enlarged head- 54 which is disposed within the tubular, n'i'atel'ial adjacent the side thereof opposite'th'e" line of stitching. This enlarged head has a-springf member 55 thereon which tends to engage this edge of the tube and hold it in predetermined tension thus aiding the feeding of the material and keeping the tube fiat. Mounted on the apparatus in any suitable manneris also a spring plate 56 adapted to rest on top of the material adjacent the spring 55 and hold the material loosely in contha tact with the top of the bar head 54. With the aid of presser foot 14 and guide plate 31, the

bar head 54, tension spring 55 and spring presser plate 56, the tubular material is fed to the needle in a substantially fiat, taut condition and any tendency of the material to wrinkle up or fiow unevenly through the machine is entirely eliminated. When the material reaches the smoothing rods 32 and passes thence to the wind-up rollers it is wound in a roll, the lateral edges of which are substantially even.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to a present preferred form thereof it is not to be limited to such details andforms since many changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest aspects. Hence it' is desired to cover any and all forms and modifications of the invention which may come within the language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

What is claimed, is:

1. In a seam opening device means for stitching the material adjacent the free edges thereof, means for turning the free margins of the material after it is stitched, means disposed between the free margins to lead them to the turning means, presser means disposed on top of the material inside of the line of stitches, means for pulling the material away from the stitching point, said pulling means provided also with means to simultaneously roll up the material.

2. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, means for stitching the fabric adjacent the free edges thereof, means disposed between the free edges outside the line of stitching to keep them separated, presser means disposed on the top of the material inside the line of stitches,

means for turning the free edges, said presser means extending from a point in advance of t stitching point to a point subsequent to the t g of the margins thereof, and means for pulling the materal away from the stitching point.

3. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, means for stitching the fabricadjacent the free edges thereof, means disposed between the free edges outside the line of stitching to keep them separated, presser means dis on the top of the material inside the line of presser means extending from a point in advance of the stitching point to .a point subsequent to the turning of the margins thereof, means for pulling the material away from the stitching point, and means forming part of the pulling means to simultaneously roll up the material.

4. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, the combination of means for stitching the material, means for feeding the material past the stitching point, means beyond the stitching means for turning the free edges of the material over and back on the rest of the material, means for pulling the material away from the stitching point, means between the stitching means and the pulling means for pressing the seam, a plurality of spaced bars between the pressing means and the pulling means and engaging the material across its entire width to keep it smooth and even, and means disposed within the tube and pressing resiliently against the edge of the material opposite the edge being stitched whereby the material as it is being fed past the stitching point is held fiat and taut.

5. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, means for stitching the adjacent edges of folded material to form a tube, a single means for pulling the material across the machine from a point beyond the stitching point and for rolling up said material, a bar adjustable on the frame of the machine, an enlarged head on said bar lying within the tube of material adjacent the side of the tube opposite the line of stitches, a spring member along the outer face of said head to press against the material to hold the tube taut and fiat.

6. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, means for stitching the adjacent edges of the folded'material to form a tube, a single means for pulling the material across the machine from a point beyond the stitching point and for rolling up said material, a bar adjustable on the frame of the machine, an enlarged head on said bar lying within the tube of material adjacent the side of the tube opposite the line of stitches, a spring member along the outer face of said head to press against the material to hold the tube taut and flat, and a spring finger on the frame of the machine adjacent the head and pressing the material between the finger and the head.

7. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, means for stitching the material, means for turning the free margins of the material over and back on the rest of the material, a

driven roller, the roll of material being wound up resting by gravity on said driven roller and constituting the only means creating sufficient tension in the material to pull it across the machine from a point beyond the stitching point.

8. In a seam opening device for sewing machines, means for stitching the material, means for turning the free edges of the seam thus formed over and back on the rest of the material, means for rolling up the material after the seam is formed and turned, and means in the roll-up device for alone creating suillcient pull in the material to pull it across the machine from a point beyond the stitching point.

PERCY GARDNER. HARRY 'GERSTEIN.

stitches, means for turning the free edges, said 

